This is happiness

+ Matcha Banana Shakes, a gorgeous homemade Hummus Platter, Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Stew, and Dark Chocolate Brownies

Welcome to Let’s Get Lost! I’m Rebecca, a recipe developer, food photographer, passionate people watcher, and chaser of new experiences. You might know me from my recipe websites, Of Batter and Dough and A Little and A Lot.

My husband and I are nomads without a home base but with many modes of transportation, namely an RV, a motorcycle, and a sailboat. I write recipes and stories for curious people who believe experiences are more important than things and who want more adventure.

—> Get this and every issue and recipe directly on rebeccablackwell.com.

Are you a fellow food writer? Come see what’s happening over in Mastermind for Food Writers and in the Food Writers Business Lab!

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I started my first recipe website in 2013. I had no idea what I was doing and, honestly, no time to do it. I was a freelance marketing consultant and copywriter, a role that suited me in some ways and not in others.

As a copywriter, my job was to dig into whatever my client’s business was and write about that. For some people, the writing itself is the interesting part. The subject doesn’t matter much as long as they are writing about something. This was true for me to a point, and it’s the to a point part that was the problem.

The month I launched my website, I had just wrapped up two huge projects: one for a large housing development and another for a technology company that specialized in data center wiring.

It will not surprise you to learn that neither of these subjects were particularly interesting to me. And yet, I wrote thousands upon thousands of words about them.

What I really wanted to do was write about cake.

So, for months, I got up at 4am and started building a website. I happily dove into the weeds of recipe writing and WordPress publishing. I worked on a few recipes and then ran into a serious roadblock: The recipes would need photos and I knew absolutely nothing about how to take them.

In 2013, my oldest daughter was 15. A year or two before, she expressed some interest in photography so we got her a DSLR camera and signed her up for a photography class. It seemed like something she was enjoying, so I asked if she would take the photos for my brand-spanking new recipe website.

She agreed and about 5 minutes into the first shoot I realized this arrangement was never going to work (pumpkin pie on giant white boards I had dragged onto our back patio… what was I thinking?).

The best we could do at the time.

My biggest problem was that I had some thoughts about what a beautiful food photo should look like and absolutely no idea how to create one. Neither, of course, did my 15-year-old daughter. Some basic knowledge of a camera and a bossy mother does not a food photographer make.

I knew that in order to get the kind of photos I wanted (without causing my daughter to want to run away from home) I was going to have to learn how to shoot them myself. So, for the next couple of years that’s what I did. I started with my daughter’s camera and then invested in one of my own. I enrolled in classes, watched YouTube videos and worked my way through food photography books. The learning curve was steep and my first attempts were horrendous. Honestly, most of the photos I published for a good long while were absolutely terrible.

But that’s the thing, isn’t it? The only way to get good at something is to be willing to suck at it for a while.

Eventually I figured out my style and a system that worked for me and my recipes. I transformed a room of our house into a studio and then, when we sold the house and moved into an RV, I learned how to shoot in very small spaces.

Photography has been a tremendously satisfying creative outlet for me. This year, I’ve gotten to do some teaching. I taught a food photography session for a food writers retreat and am working with other photographers to teach a class in the Food Writers Business Lab about the Visual Language of Food Photography.

And earlier this month, I spent a whole day in my daughter’s apartment, teaching her how to take photos of my recipes. Ironically, not the daughter who bravely stepped out onto the back patio to take photos of pumpkin pie. Rather, it’s our youngest daughter, who is a 25-year-old trained chef with an interest in videography and food photography.

Together, the two of us photographed our way through two recipes before my husband, our oldest daughter, and one of our nieces came over to help us eat it. The best part of being a food photographer is getting to eat your work.

From now on, a lot of the photos you see here will be photographed by her. There’s something that just makes my heart swell to bursting to get to share this thing that I love - creating and sharing recipes - with one of my daughters.

So, two of the recipes you’ll find in this week’s issue, Creamy Chicken Stew and Dark Chocolate Brownies, were tested and photographed by Chef Anne Blackwell.

And didn’t she just do such a good job???

My friend Nicki Sizemore published a gorgeous post last week where she describes being inspired to name happiness as often as she finds it, which turns out to be quite often.

I’ve been playing with this game of naming happiness in those tiny glimmers when I sense it—which, if I’m open and available to it, is far more often than I tend to think.

-This is Happiness by Nicki Sizemore

Having daughters like mine… this is happiness.

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Small luxuries

Some of my favorite things.

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A few weeks ago I wrote about my new obsession with Pique. The obsession is still alive and well, and perhaps even stronger after adding their R.E. Fountain (calming electrolyte) powder to my evening routine.

Every single morning, while waiting for the coffee to brew, I stir a packet of their BT Fountain Electrolyte Powder into a glass of cold water and happily gulp it down. It makes me feel good almost immediately. And while I have absolutely no intention of giving up my morning cup of coffee (seriously, you’d have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands), the truth is that I feel awake before I’ve even taken a sip.

Also, seriously, my skin looks amazing. Just saying.

Last week we flew to Denver to spend a few days with our daughters. On the way to the airport I realized I’d forgotten to pack my morning electrolyte powder and if it wouldn’t have caused us to miss the flight, I would have told Steve to turn the truck around. I thought about it anyway.

It’s funny… Steve and I grew up in Colorado and never knew what out-of-town guests were talking about when they complained about the altitude. Now that we’re no longer year-round residents, we get it. After settling nicely into the low elevation and humidity of Michigan, we felt the thin air and dry climate of Denver the second our plane hit the runway.

And look, I would have felt the difference in altitude and moisture anyway, with or without my morning electrolyte powder fix. But there was also a noticeable difference in how I felt in the morning that was more than just “Oh, Colorado.”

I was a little more sluggish. A lot more dehydrated. A little bit dull. I also drank a LOT more coffee because I just couldn’t wake up.

Happily, we are now back in Michigan with a drawer full of BT Fountain Electrolyte Powder AND Sun Goddess Matcha. My morning and afternoon routines are back in play and all is right with the world. Ok. That’s not true at all. The world is kinda fucked up. But, at least I feel hydrated and invigorated, and my skin has that glowy look. Let’s take what we can get, shall we?

Matcha Banana Shake

Now that the weather is getting warmer, I’ve traded in my hot cup of Matcha in the afternoon for a cold, creamy, super refreshing matcha banana shake. Holy smokes, this shake is soooooo delicious. It feels indulgent, like you’re treating yourself to a milkshake, but with a gentle energy burst that makes you feel like a million bucks.

Your taste buds will be happy, your gut will be happy, your skin will be happy. And if you are like me and often experience an afternoon slump, you’ll get a nice little burst of energy without the crash that comes from succumbing to another cup of coffee or (god forbid) an energy drink.

Here’s what you need:

• 1 frozen banana (the banana doesn’t have to be frozen, but it’s much more milkshake-like if it is)

• 1/4 cup Greek yogurt, plain and unsweetened

• 6 ounces very cold water

• 1 packet Pique Sun Goddess Matcha Powder

• 1 tablespoon honey (more to taste)

Dump everything into a blender and blend until well combined and frothy. Pour into a glass and do your best to sip it slowly, like a civilized person, and not so fast that you give yourself a brain freeze. Not that I would know this from experience.

Pique ceremonial-grade matcha is rich in EGCG antioxidants to support clarity, cellular health, and steady energy, while promoting gut balance. Thanks to Pique’s cold extraction process, it delivers calm, clean energy without jitters or crashes.

In other words, you’ll have a happy belly, beautiful skin, and the energy you need to get through your day. Oh, AND a delicious shake. There’s no downside here, my friends. 👏

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Here’s a link to try the Radiant Skin Duo (BT Electrolyte and Sun Goddess Matcha Powder) for 20% off + some very generous freebies.

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And also, guess what goes really well with a Banana Matcha Shake??? Cookies, that’s what.

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This Week’s Menu

Hummus Platter + Easy Homemade Hummus Recipe

This hummus platter is one of my favorite ways to make it look like you tried a heck of a lot harder than you actually did. Start with a generous layer of creamy hummus, pile on crunchy vegetables, olives, feta, and a few finishing touches, and suddenly you’ve got a colorful, flavor-packed platter that’s a perfect for lunch as it is for entertaining. It’s my idea of the perfect summer recipe - easy, unfussy, endlessly adaptable, and no stovetop or oven required.

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Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Stew

On a recent trip to Europe, we spent a couple of days in Bruges, a storybook Belgian village that captured our hearts from the moment we arrived. After wandering around the town in utter delight, we stopped for dinner at a restaurant in the town square.

I ordered the chicken stew and was delighted to receive a bowl of chicken and mushrooms coated in a rich, creamy gravy with a little round of puff pastry resting on top.

It was the very definition of comfort food for me. And look, I know the phrase comfort food means different things to different people. But, for me, that was it.

I couldn’t wait to get home and try to recreate that gorgeous creamy stew in my own kitchen.

Not only does it remind me of our first night in Bruges, it’s the first recipe I’ve published that was tested and photographed by my daughter, Chef Anne Blackwell. So, it’s not an exaggeration to say that, for me, this recipe now comes with comfort in spades.

I hope it does the same for you, filling you from head to toe with the kind of warmth that has you taking a deep, satisfied breath with the biggest smile on your face.

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Dark Chocolate Brownies

This brownie recipe is for true chocolate lovers. Or for lovers who love chocolate. Whichever. Probably both.

Regardless, if you need a bit of love and chocolate in your life, add these brownies to the menu. They are impossibly rich, decadent, and seductive. The kind of brownie that truly deserves to have the name fudge in the title.

These brownies contain a lot of chocolate. More than you thought you could pack into a brownie. So, it’s important to splurge on the best chocolate you can find.

They are also so indulgent that one batch goes a long way. I generally cut them into small pieces, set a few out, store a few in the refrigerator, and pop the rest in the freezer for those times when I just want a bite or two of something intensely chocolaty and decadent.

In fact, you can eat these brownies directly from the freezer, which is my favorite way to eat them. Instead of turning them into ice cubes, they just get chewier and almost truffle-like when frozen.

This makes them the perfect brownies for brownie sundaes. You’ll think you’ve transported yourself into some kind of chocolate lover’s utopia, which of course you have. Enjoy it. Utopian moments are fleeting. Let’s take them where we can, shall we?

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If you’re a food writer:

• Please join us over on Mastermind for Food Writers where you’ll find a ton of education, connection, and resources, for food writers by food writers.

• Check out the lineup of free classes and in-depth workshops in The Food Writers Business Lab, an online learning hub created specifically for food writers who want practical, affordable support for growing their businesses and expanding their reach.

• I taught an SEO for food writers class a few weeks ago where I presented SEO not as a technical burden or a game to be won, but as a practical way to help the right readers find your recipes, stories, newsletters, and posts. The class was recorded and is available here: SEO: Build a Bridge From Your Work To Your Readers

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The Lost Supper Club

This newsletter would not exist if not for the members of The Lost Supper Club, who show their support with a paid subscription, thus ensuring that the vast majority of readers can keep reading this newsletter for free. As a thank you, I try to provide those paid subscribers with some cool stuff, including three free cookbooks!

A paid subscription is just $35 a year. Find out more about becoming a member of the Lost Supper Club.

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